“Christ, I gotta go,” I mumble, ripping my driver’s side door open and hauling myself inside before tearing down the street like a maniac.
Chapter 8
Taylor
Well, that was certainly interesting.
I didn’t expect Knox to follow through with my request, but now that I know he’s willing to play, my time at home just got a lot more exciting. Except, today’s Friday…Monday will takeforeverto get here, and I have no doubt, after that hasty departure, my conflicted contractor will be all up in his head for the next forty-eight hours, meaning I’ll be in mine, too.
At least I’m getting back in the saddle and not wallowing as much as before, I think, just as an idea strikes.
“Hey, Bird,” Livvy says, answering on the second ring. “How’s it going at Mom and Dad’s?”
I laugh into the phone.
“You aren’t going to believe this,” I answer excitedly.
My sister doesn’t return my excitement. “I swear to God, Tay, if you tell me Patrick called you?—”
“What?” I interrupt her. “Why would you think that’s what I was going to say?” I demand.
“Um, maybe because there hasn’t been this much life in your voice since before all that shit went down? I know you’re not doing well even though you think you’re hiding it.”
“Okay, Debbie Downer, I’m allowed to feel emotions, for fuck’s sake. That whole situation was traumatic, and I’m not trying tohideanything. But I digress. You know the guy who caught me when I fell off the bar on karaoke night?”
“Mm-hmm,” she hums. Her skepticism about where this is going is evident in her tone.
“He’sthe guy doing Mom and Dad’s back porch!” I announce.
She sighs in disappointment, totally crashing my high. “Not again, Tay. Can’t you find a hot guy your own age who doesn’t screamI love pussy? That guy was totally straight. Stop barking up the hetero trees. There’s nothing there for you.”
I know she’s just concerned for me, but right now, her condescending tone is really pissing me off.
“First of all, I’ve been trying to tell all of you that regardless of what he told everyone, Patrick. Isn’t.Straight.I wasn’t even the first guy he’d been with. He was just too fucking cowardly to admit he’d fallen for me, and when shit hit the fan, he acted like he had no fucking clue how his dick ended up in my ass!”
God, I hate talking about this.
“Of all the people in the world, though, why’d you have to go afterhim? Patrickjustlost Emilia the year before.”
“Does that mean he wasn’t allowed to choose how he dealt with his grief?”Ugh, and now I’m sticking up for him.“Never mind. This isn’t the conversation I’d wanted to have when I called. I’ll talk to you later.”
I’m pulling the phone away from my ear when I hear Livvy shout, “Tay, wait!”
“What, Liv? I’m tired of everything coming back to Patrick, okay? Interacting with the guy from the bar was the first time since all that bullshit that I’d started feeling like myself again. I just wanted you to be excited with me that the universe threw the hot stranger back into my orbit. I definitely didn’t want another lecture about my terrible judgement and poor choices.”
“I’m sorry,” Livvy says. “I just don’t ever want to see you hurting like that again.”
“Yeah, well, maybe if my family had believed me, it wouldn’t have hurt quite so much,” I fire back with far more venom than my sister deserves.
It’s a low blow. Patrick was desperate—there were tears and everything. Hell, maybe evenhebelieved it when he said it. All I know is that I felt betrayed by myentirefamily, and that hurt as much as the lies Patrick told.
“Tay, I’m sorry. Just promise me you’ll be careful with the contractor?”
“Sure,” I say noncommittally.A lot of good that does, considering I thought I was being careful with Patrick, too.“Look, I have energy to burn. Can we hang out?”
Livvy laughs. “When do you evernothave energy to burn?”
“Go-karts? Rock climbing? What are you in the mood for?” I ask, trying to entice her. She’salmostas much of an adrenaline junkie as I am.
